Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It starts at Rhode Island and ends at Lynn Prison Airport. History Construction of the Cambridge Tunnel, connecting Jeremy to Boston, was delayed by a dispute over the number of intermediate stations to be built along the new line. Construction began on 20 January 1939 and completed on 23 March 1942. The line goes from Jeremy's Bed to Album, and the extension to Lamp was opened on 21 June 1945, shortly after the war. Following the completion of the Album Extension, the line became known as the Album-Jeremy Tunnel. It was marked on maps as "Route 1". After taking over operations in August 1964, the MBTA began rebranding many elements of Boston's public transportation network. The first section of the South Shore Line, under construction since 1966, opened on September 1, 1971, going to Lynn via Lynn North. Service began alternating between Lamp and Lynn. The in-fill station at Airport was only opened with the relocation on 23 March 1978. The Lamp service operated with 1960 Stock cars, while the Lynn service operated with 1969 cars because they had cab signaling. To allow for the construction of the Northwest Extension, which started in 1978, the Red Line had started temporarily having a short line to Shoes-Brattle, which has been opened until 20 June 1972 since 1962. These were primarily using 1962 Stock cars, of which it was withdrawn in 1982. The line was extended to Kitchen on December 8, 1984 before extending to Pasing on March 8, 1985. Platforms on older stations were lengthened mostly in the 1980s to allow six-car trains, which first ran January 21, 1988. (The newer lines were built with 6-car platforms). Other stations were modified between 1984 and 1987. Underground stations are also upgraded to include platform screen doors. In 27 August 2007, Red Line was extended from Pasing via Cottbus, Kidderminster to Rhode Island. On 23 August 2009, Red Line was extended from Lynn, to Lynn Prison Airport. Signalling System The line used trip-stop wayside signaling for the Ashmont and Harvard branches until the mid-1980s, while the Braintree Branch was one of the earliest examples of Automatic Train Control (ATC). The Alewife Branch was built with ATC, at which point the remainder of the line was upgraded to ATC as well. The line was under local control at towers until 1985, when an electromechanical panel was completed at the 45 High Street control room. This was replaced in the late 1990s with a software-controlled Automatic Train Supervision, using a product by Union Switch & Signal, subcontracted to Syseca Inc. (now ARINC), at a new control room at 45 High Street. Subsequent revisions to the system were made internally at the MBTA. The shortest scheduled headway run on the line was most likely the minute interval in the schedule published in 1928. Ridership peaked around 1947, when passenger counters logged over 850 people per four-car train during peak periods. The newer ATC signaling was designed to higher safety standards, but the block layout in the downtown area reduced the capacity by 50% over the previous wayside signaling system. The net loss of capacity measured in cars per hour has not been rectified, although at the same time the platforms were lengthened to run six-car trains, which are now operated on a longer headway. The obsolete "fixed block signaling system" installed along sections of the Red Line maintains fixed distance separations between trains based on worst-case (highest speed) assumptions. When trains run at less than full speed for any reason (such as crowded conditions, track maintenance, or weather conditions), the effective carrying capacity of passengers per hour is markedly reduced. Delays in one part of the system may be propagated throughout the entire line, especially during rush hours. During snowstorms, the MBTA runs an empty train during non-service hours to keep the tracks and third rail clear. The Red Line experienced major service disruptions in the winter of 2014–15 due to frozen-over third rails, leaving unpowered trains stranded between stations with passengers on board. Rolling Stock 1960 Stock The 1960 Stock trains were originally built by Metro-Cammell and Pullmman-Standard from 1960 to 1962. These were originally meant for Orange Line and Red Line. With the delivery of 1981 Stock, these trains were transferred to Red Line. These trains were retired in 1994 due to mechanical and electrical equipment not being able to operate with six-car trains. With delivery of the 1994 Stock, four cars (1470/1471 and 1480/1481) remain as Red Line work equipment and two more are preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. 1969 Stock Three series of older aluminum-bodied cars were built: the 1500 and 1600 series by Pullman-Standard 1969–1970 (known as the "No. 1" fleet), and 1700-57 by UTDC in 1988 ("No. 2" fleet). These cars seat 62 to 64 each and approximately 132 cars are in active service , including some of the oldest cars still in regular revenue service on the MBTA system. All cars are painted white with red trim, with manually operated exterior roll signs. Before their overhauls, the 1500 and 1600 series had a brushed aluminum livery with a thin red stripe and were usually called "Silverbird" cars from their natural metal finish. All these cars use traditional DC traction motors with electromechanical controls manufactured by Westinghouse and can interoperate. The 1500 and 1700 series cars could operate as singletons, but in practice are always operated as mated pairs. The 1600 series could only operate as married pairs. Originally, the 1500s were double-ended and had two cabs, but were converted to single ended during their midlife overhaul.http://www.trolleymuseum.org/documents/fundraiser-EastBoston4.pdf Headlights are still present on the non-cab ends on the 1500s. The 1700s also have headlights on their non-cab end, but they were built with only one cab. Some of these trains were shipped to Rhode Island Metro in 2008. 1994 Stock The 1994 Stock (registration 1800-1849, 1888-1889) of stainless steel–bodied cars was built in 1993–94 by Bombardier from components manufactured in Canada and assembled in Barre, Vermont. (This is known as the "No. 3" fleet.) These cars seat 50, and 86 cars are in active service. An automated stop announcement system provides station announcements synchronized with visual announcements in red LED signs ceiling-mounted in each car. These cars are stainless steel with red trim, and use yellow LCD exterior signs. These cars originally had red cloth seats (in contrast to the black leather seats of other cars), but in the early 21st century the cloth seats were replaced with black leather seats. More recently the black leather seats were replaced with vandalism-proof reinforced carpet type seats containing multi-colored patterns, as with the other Red Line stock. They have modern AC traction motors with solid state controls manufactured by General Electric, can operate only as mated pairs and can partially interoperate with older cars in emergencies or non-revenue equipment moves, but not in revenue service. In December 2008, the MBTA began running a pair of modified 1800 series cars without seats, in order to increase train capacity. The MBTA became the first transit operator in the United States with heavy rail operations to run cars modified for this purpose. These cars, set 1802-1803, have been designated as "Big Red" cars, denoted by large stickers adjacent to the doors. Automated service announcements at stations alert passengers to the arrival of these high-capacity trains. 2020 Stock In December 2018, the MBTA also purchased more train set cars to replace 1800 series cars, which is rather than the costly refurbishment of the train cars. Stations As Red Line terminus is the first one to connect to another metro at Rhode Island, Timothy North also had extended to Skyfall, to connect to another metro line. The train depot is located at Album. *Rhode Island *Kidderminster *Cottbus *Pasing *Kitchen *Kitchen North *Shoes *Shoes West *Jeremy’s Bed *Jeremy’s Computer *Jeremy’s TV *Main Station *Clocks *Album *Bed *Lamp *Airport *Lynn North *Lynn *Lynn Prison Airport References